"How about this?" Caroline's shrill voice echoes in my ears. The girls and I have been shopping for back to school outfits for hours, and Caroline's undefeatable enthusiasm remains undefeated. She holds up a glittery red tank top, delighted at her find.

"Isn't that a little much?" I ask, unsure what Caroline thinks junior year is all about.

"Is it?" She asks, silently begging for Bonnie's denial.

"No, it should be fine." Bonnie answers, earning a grand shinning smile from the blonde.

"For the first day of school? Bonnie come on." I start, though I don't know why I'm fighting so hard about this. If Caroline wants to wear sequins on the first day she can...

"Elena, haven't you been listening?" Caroline gawks, brow furrowed. "God, you've been out of it all day!"

I look at Bonnie for an explanation, and she looks patiently exasperated. "Remember? Those senior guys came up and started flirting with us? They checked you out? Caroline totally fell in love? They invited us to an end of summer party?" She waves her arms around waiting for my answer.

The answer is that I don't remember any of that. "Oh, right, duh, sorry." I say, smiling and smacking my palm against my forehead. "My mind is just all over the place right now."

"Oooh, is it a guy?" Caroline asks, dancing side to side with the top.

Actually it's my parents... they've only been gone a month... But I don't say that. "Yeah, yeah it is." Well it kind of is...You want a love that consumes you... crystal blue eyes shine down into mine as he speaks... the words come from all around me... I shiver.

"Elena!" Caroline shouts again. "What is wrong with you?"

It would appear my mind has drifted again.

"Give us details!" She squirms.

"Oh..." oh. I feel a lump form in my throat around the words I haven't even thought about saying yet. For some reason, those eyes belong to a secret that I cannot tell. "It's Matt." I lie.

"What about Matt?" Caroline asks, eyes widened, looking confused.

"Any romantic gestures happening your way?" Bonnie grins.

"N...no, it's not that. It's..."

"Well out with it!" Caroline gushes, unable to handle the suspense of whatever boy talk I'm keeping from her.

"It's just that I'm not sure how we're doing..."

"What? Tell us." Demands.

"What's going on?" Bonnie's concern is a happy contrast to Caroline's want for gossip. Despite the uneasy feeling the preppy blonde is giving me, Bonnie's softened eyes reassure the idea that I really can tell my friends everything... Sorta.

"I just don't know if we have anything anymore."

The two girls suddenly gave me matching looks of understanding. I'm about to continue when something catches my attention from the corner of my eye. I turn my head and see two of the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen staring directly at me. Flustered, I turn to my friends.

"I'll be right back to continue this, that skirt is adorable." I skip away from them before they can respond towards Damon.

When I get there I stop a foot away from him, breathless, and unsure of what to do or say. His smirk sends flutters through me and my eyes are glued to his. "You know this isn't a skirt section right?" He teases.

I look down, surprised to see men's sport coats. I'm going to hear about this later...

"I haven't seen you in a while." I say, voice shaky with adrenaline.

"Since we first met." He agrees, still smirking.

I pause, hesitating, searching for words in a brain where everything has stopped working. "How've you been?" Is what I come up with.

He chuckles, leading me away from civilization by my arm. "How have you been?" He asks, eyes serious and protruding into my soul. The question isn't one that I can ignore, his intensity pierces every inch of me and the butterflies seem to go wild inside my stomach.

"Not too good actually." I tell him, answering genuinely for the first time since that night. "My parents died the night we met."

His eyes don't change, but his hand moves down my arm to grab my hand. "I'm sorry." He tells me, and I can feel the sincerity. We stand silently for a moment before he adds to his statement. "If there's anything I can do, Elena, you let me know." His lips that had formed a white line now were held in a slight sad smile that is filled with regret. A regret that I can't explain.

I'm looking at him quizzically still when his eyes flicker up and then back down.

"Your friends are looking for you." He says, still serious, and then brings my hand up to his lips, a mischievous twinkle forming in his eyes. "Until next time, m'lady."

For some reason, I don't register what happens next. I'm suddenly standing alone against the wall of the changing room that I didn't know I was in. Confused, I walked out, towards my friends.

"Oh my god, Elena!" Caroline starts again the second I arrive. "Did you try something on without showing us?"

"Oh.." oh again. "It was too small."

"Well what was it? I'm sure we can find it in your size." Caroline went into full shopping mode, flipping around the store for a skirt that doesn't exist.

Bonnie watches her from beside me, smirking. "Leave it to Caroline to find a skirt that she's never seen or heard of." Her smile fades when she turns to me. "So what's up with Matt?"

I tell her, and it feels good to get it off my chest. She doesn't say a word the entire time I talk, tearing up but keeping it together. Caroline's timing couldn't have been more perfect when she comes back the second I finish my spiel, holding up a skirt and pushing me towards the change rooms.